Notre Dame Leprechaun mascot John Doran a Troy native

Photo provided, Troy native John Doran, a graduate of La Salle Institute and currently a sophomore at Notre Dame University, talks with the media after he was named the Fighting Irish leprechaun, starting with the 2014-15 school year.

Photo contributed,
Troy native John Doran, who was recently chosen to be the University of Notre Dame mascot, poses for a picture at Edmund P. Joyce Center, where the Fighting Irish play their basketball games.

The world’s most famous college mascot is one of the Collar City’s own — and that’s no blarney!

Troy native and La Salle Institute grad John Doran recently competed against — and beat — 15 other competitors to become the Leprechaun mascot for the University of Notre Dame. Doran is the gold Leprechaun — the most coveted — for the Fighting Irish. He will lead cheers for the school’s football and men’s basketball teams.

Notre Dame’s offense is supposed to be high octane in 2014 with the return of Everett Golson at quarterback and five-star running backs Tarean Foster and Greg Bryant expected to take off in their sophomore seasons. That should be good news for Doran. When Notre Dame scores a touchdown, the TV cameras usually pan directly to the Leprechaun celebrating the score. This season, Doran may get may more face time on national TV than football coach Brian Kelly.

That’s just fine with his parents, Matt and Kate Doran as well as brother James, captain of the Fordham track-and-field team who is set to graduate in two weeks.

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“They told us we would see quite a bit of John, especially on NBC, Notre Dame’s station for all the home games,” said Matt Doran, John’s father and owner of Doran Funeral Home on South Lake Avenue. “We’re looking forward to it.”

So to is John Doran, a sophomore accounting major at Notre Dame.

“I have been a life-long Notre Dame fan,” said Doran, who can quote the movie Rudy line-by-line. “I have the red hair and beard. Everyone told me I look like the Leprechaun. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. To be here at Notre Dame and be the face of something so great is awesome.”

Doran graduated from La Salle in 2012. He played four seasons of football as a defensive back; four seasons of baseball as an outfielder and ran the 400 meters and was part of the 4x400 relay team.

This fall he will be a sprinter; leading the Fighting Irish football team — with the players’ gold helmets gleaming in the sun — out of the tunnel and into Knute Rockne Stadium. His goal is to make the Irish faithful again send a volley cheer on high, shake down the thunder from the sky as Touchdown Jesus peaks over the stadium wall.

Doran completed his spring semester classes on Wednesday. He will prepare and study for next week’s exams and will return a week from Saturday to the Collar City, where he will spend the summer.

“Most students can’t wait for summer vacation, but for me, this is going to be a long summer,” Doran said. “I can’t wait for the game against Rice.”

Notre Dame opens its season Aug. 30 vs. Rice. The following week the Fighting Irish play host to the University of Michigan. Doran will travel to all the away games as well. And Notre Dame barnstorms the country to play anyone, anywhere — a tradition that legendary coach Knute Rockne started because most of the midwest schools in the 1920s and 30s would not play Notre Dame and refused to allow it in the Big Ten Conference because the school was Catholic.

“The schedule is awesome,” Doran said. “We play three games in NFL stadiums (vs. Purdue at Lucas Oil Field; vs. Syracuse at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands and vs. Navy at FedEx Field). We also travel to play at Florida State, Arizona State and USC.”

Doran is the first to admit he isn’t sure what to expect for the first game. He will learn his responsibilities later in the summer when he returns to Notre Dame for on-the-job training. He did handle himself so well at tryouts that he landed the coveted gold Leprechaun role.

Notre Dame has three Leprechauns. Gold works with the football and men’s basketball teams and is the only Leprechaun who travels with the teams. Blue works with women’s basketball and volleyball. Green works with hockey and soccer. Normally, an ND Leprechaun has to work his way up the ranks. But this season was different at Notre Dame. The three Leprechauns will graduate.

“I talked with Bryce (Burton) who was the Leprechaun two years ago, and he was telling me he’s scrared for me,” said Doran, who realizes it many not be easy dressed in green. Usually the Leprechauns move up a level, but I am getting thrown to the wolves. I have the lead in my first year.”

Doran should have no trouble with the responsibility, much the same way he passed a lengthy tryout to be the Leprechaun. Doran and 15 others attended 10 clinics with the cheerleading team. At the end of each clinch they would hold specific situations for the Leprechaun hopefuls.

“They made us do a fake pep rally, or do an impromptu siutation to see if you could handle an awkward situation without making it more awkward. Something like you’re in a bar in New York City with Notre Dame followers and the women’s basketball team is playing UConn in the championship game. They want to see if you can handle getting heckled and booed by the UConn fans.”

The 15 candidates also worked with Johnny Romano, the 2013-14 Leprechaun. Romano instructed the candidates to strike up a conversation with a random student to see if he could handle and excel in social situations. The 15 candidates were cut to six and the finalists had to attend another week’s worth of clinics. The finals were held a week ago Friday.

“We had to set up a facebook event for a mock pep rally, see how many friends you could get to attend,” Doran said. “They asked us to show them what we would do the day before the Rice game.”

The judging panel consisted of cheerleaders, two former leprechauns, a member of the sports marketing department and Angelo DeCarlo, who does television interviews for WNDU. Doran said Burton gave him excellent advice before the final — don’t be a character, be yourself because more than half of the responsbilities are for alumni gatherings and charity events. The panel wants to see the real person, just not a rowdy character.

“I am still not really sure what we were judged on,” Doran said. “I know a big part is how well we can relate to big crowds and if you can be a good and positive representive of the school. We’re the only mascot where people can see your face and we get to talk to people. Everything I do reflects upon the school. This is definitely an honor.”

The Leprechaun, unlike the mascot at some schools, is not a scholarship position. However, there is an opportunity to be inducted into the Monogram Club, which is reserved for varsity letter winners.

Doran will have to balance his time between Leprechaun and being a student at one of the most academically demanding universities in the country.

“I’m a hard-working guy and I do well in school,” Doran said. “Most of the travel is one the weekends. I will be a junior and I enjoy most of the classes in my major. All my Liberal Arts requirements I took as a freshman.

“We joke here that even the wildest kids at Notre Dame are doing homework five nights per week. We lay low on the weeknights. There’s a lot of work, but there’s nothing I didn’t expect. I knew this would be challenging coming in to Notre Dame.”

Doran’s responsibilities during a gameday weekend at home start on Friday night, with the traditional pep rally. He will lead the team and the famed Fighting Irish marching band to the event. The electric vibe starts on campus early Friday, with fans travelling from all over the country to see one of six home football games per season.

“The feeling on campus is electric,” Doran said. “If you’re going to come you have to get here on Friday. Last year I had a late afternoon class on Friday, trying to get there was brutal because campus was packed. You go right into gameday mode on the way to class.”

People arrive on Friday to start an early tailgate and to take in some of the tradtions, such as the pep rally, the Notre Dame drumline playing in front of the famed Golden Dome at midnight or the Fighting Irish band trumpet’s section playing in the Dome the night before the game. What makes Notre Dame tailgating unique is there are no frats on campus. Fans could rub shoulders with Joe Theismann or Joe Montana in the book store or they could run into Tom Brown at the Grotto — a world famous shride dedicated to the Virgin Mary — or hang with Jerome Bettis at a tailgate party.

“The tailgates are incredible,” Doran said. “Some people bring in bands; others have huge TVs, maybe College GameDay is in town.”

Doran will be the gold Leprechaun for the 2014-15 school year. If he wants to continue the role as a senior, he would again have to try out for the position.

“I feel lucky and I don’t want to take this for granted,” Doran said. “For some people, a football weekend at Notre Dame is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, others aren’t as fortunate to come here once. I get to spend four years of my life here. Notre Dame is everything you’ve ever heard and more.”

About the Author

Kevin Moran is The Record's sports editor. Previously he covered high school sports and Siena College basketball for The Record. Reach the author at kmoran@digitalfirstmedia.com
or follow Kevin on Twitter: @KMoran_Record.